Hogan Award watch list features 27 top collegians

Hogan Award watch list features 27 top collegians

The watch list for the 2013 Ben Hogan Award was announced Wednesday and includes 27 of the top collegiate golfers around the nation. The award annually is presented to the top NCAA men’s golfer at the Division I, II or III level. The Hogan Award honors college and amateur success during a 12-month period.

This year’s watch list consists of 10 seniors, nine juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman. Twenty universities are represented on the list. Four Cal players appear on the list, tying the record for most nominees from one school. Oklahoma State also had four players in 2010. Washington, Alabama and Florida have multiple nominees this year.

Ten players on this year’s list attended the Walker Cup practice session held in December. Only one Division II player, Nova Southeastern’s Ben Taylor, was nominated.

Take a closer look at the 27 golfers on the list:

Daniel Berger, sophomore, Florida State

Berger won the 2012 Dixie Amateur by 13 shots. He was runner-up at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini and added another top 20 this fall for the Seminoles.

Julien Brun, sophomore, TCU

Brun won the European Challenge Tour’s Allianz Open, then followed with a win at the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach. The Frenchman represented France at the World Amateur Team Championship and was a 2012 Hogan Award semifinalist.

Albin Choi, junior, N.C. State

Choi, who represented Canada in the World Amateur Team Championship and Copa de las Americas, won two tournaments in the fall: the Tar Heel Intercollegiate and the Warrior Wave Princeville. He went on to add two more top 10s to his resume.

Corey Conners, junior, Kent State

Racked up a second collegiate victory at the Gopher Invitational in the fall after overcoming an eight-shot deficit entering the final round. Connors didn’t finish worse than T-15 in any tournament for the Golden Flashes this fall. He also represented Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship and the Copa de las Americas.

Scott Fernandez, sophomore, Iowa State

Fernandez placed in the top 3 in all three tournaments in which he competed. That includes a pair of runner-up finishes, at the Northern Intercollegiate and VCU Shootout. His 71.67 scoring average is on pace to rank as one of the best in school history.

Steven Fox, senior, Chattanooga

The U.S. Amateur champion defeated Michael Weaver in 37 holes at Cherry Hills Country Club. Fox was the runner-up at the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic and added another top 10 at the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate. H represented the U.S. at the World Amateur Team Championship and the Copa de las Americas.

Ben Geyer, senior, St. Mary’s (Calif.)

Geyer won the St. Mary’s Invitational, and didn’t finish outside the top 15 in four fall starts. He made it to the championship match at the California Amateur.

Talor Gooch, junior, Oklahoma State

Gooch posted top 10s in each of his two starts in the fall, including a runner-up finish at the U.S. Collegiate Championship. He won the Oklahoma Stroke Play Championship and made it to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur.

Brandon Hagy, junior, California

Hagy was a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur championship. He won the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, Cal’s home tournament, after shooting a second-round 62. It was his first collegiate title, and he added two more top 10s to his resume in the fall.

Max Homa, senior, California

Homa collected three top-10 finishes in the spring, including a runner-up finish at the Gopher Invitational. He was Cal’s top finisher at the 2012 NCAA Championship and earned All-American accolades for his junior season.

Michael Kim, sophomore, California

Kim has finished in the top 10 in all six tournaments this season. He has two victories, at the Isleworth Invitational and at the Arizona Intercollegiate. Kim was No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings at the end of the fall season.

Jace Long, senior, Missouri

Long won three consecutive tournaments in the fall: the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate, the Golfweek Conference Challenge and the Patriot Intercollegiate. Missouri also won the team title at each of those events. Long then proceeded to place in the top 10 in his next three starts.

Tyler McCumber, senior, Florida

McCumber finished in a tie for second individually at last year’s NCAA Championship and recorded three top-10 finishes this fall. He tied for second at The Invitational at the Ocean Course.

Cheng-Tsung Pan, sophomore, Washington

Golfweek’s No. 1 player at the end of the fall season. Pan finished in the top 3 in all four of his fall tournaments, including a victory in the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational. He was a Ben Hogan semifinalist in 2012.

Kevin Penner, senior, UNLV

Penner won the 2012 Western Refining Classic. He placed in the top 10 in all four events this fall for the Rebels, including a runner-up finish at the Ping/Golfweek Preview.

Thomas Pieters, sophomore, Illinois

Pieters won the 2012 NCAA individual championship and the Monroe Invitational. He represented Belgium in the World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey. Pieters finished in the top 10 in both of his fall starts with Illinois.

Patrick Rodgers, sophomore, Stanford

A finalist for the 2012 Ben Hogan Award, Rodgers won the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini and the U.S. Collegiate Championship this spring. He represented the U.S. at the 2012 Palmer Cup.

Trevor Simsby, junior, Washington

Simsby won the Pac-12 Preview with an 11-under 205 total. He also was runner-up at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational and placed fifth at the U.S. Collegiate Championship.

Brandon Stone, freshman, Texas

Stone won the Carpet Capital Collegiate in his first college start. His 70.89 scoring average for the fall was tops for the Longhorns. Stone was ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings at the end of the fall season.

Julian Suri, senior, Duke

Suri had three top-10 finishes for Duke in the fall, and that included a victory at the Rod Myers Invitational. The 2012 third team All-American shot even par or better in seven of his 12 rounds this fall.

Ben Taylor, junior, Nova Southeastern

Taylor won the Otter Invitational and the McDonough Cup, and was runner-up at the Brickyard Crossing Intercollegiate and the Guy Harvey Invitational. The Englishman was the 2012 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year.

Justin Thomas, sophomore, Alabama

The U.S. Amateur semifinalist was also a 2012 Ben Hogan Award semifinalist. Thomas represented the U.S. at the World Amateur Team Championship. He won the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and was runner-up at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational. He won the 2012 Haskins Award.

T.J. Vogel, senior, Florida

Vogel won the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, thus earning an invitation to the 2013 Masters. He finished in the top 10 in every fall start for the Gators.

Michael Weaver, junior, California

The 2012 U.S. Amateur runner-up finished in the top 10 three times in five fall tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the Ping/Golfweek Preview. He redshirted last season to get into Cal’s Haas School of Business.

Pontus Widegren, senior, UCLA

The Swedish native won the CSU San Marcos Fall Classic as an individual. He represented Sweden at the World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey and is the No. 1-ranked player for Team Europe in the Palmer Cup Rankings, which were released in December.

Chris Williams, senior, Washington

The top-ranked amateur in the world won the Western Amateur and was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Amateur last summer. He represented the U.S. at the World Amateur Team Championships and the Copa de las Americas. He finished as the runner-up at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational and the Ping/Golfweek Preview this fall for the Huskies. He was a 2012 Ben Hogan Award semifinalist.

Bobby Wyatt, junior, Alabama

Wyatt was the stroke-play medalist at the 2012 U.S. Amateur and made it to the Round of 16 before losing to teammate Thomas. Wyatt won the 2012 Sunnehanna Amateur and finished in the top 5 in two of four fall starts for the Crimson Tide.